USS Philippine Sea (CG-58)

	USS Philippine Sea on 22 February 2005
History
United States
Name	Philippine Sea
Namesake	Battle of the Philippine Sea
Ordered	27 December 1983
Builder	Bath Iron Works
Laid down	8 April 1986
Launched	12 July 1987
Commissioned	18 March 1989
Homeport	Norfolk
Identification	MMSI number: 516203000; Call sign: NWIN; ; Hull number: CG-58;
Motto	Eternal Vigilance
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Ticonderoga-class cruiser
Displacement	Approx. 9,600 long tons (9,800 t) full load
Length	567 feet (173 m)
Beam	55 feet (16.8 meters)
Draft	34 feet (10.2 meters)
Propulsion	4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engines; 2 × controllable-reversible pitch propellers; 2 × rudders;
Speed	32.5 knots (60 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Complement	30 officers and 300 enlisted
Sensors and ; processing systems	AN/SPY-1A/B multi-function radar; AN/SPS-49 air search radar (Removed on some ships); AN/SPG-62 fire control radar; AN/SPS-73 surface search radar; AN/SPQ-9 gun fire control radar; AN/SQQ-89(V)1/3 - A(V)15 Sonar suite, consisting of:; AN/SQS-53B/C/D active sonar; AN/SQR-19 TACTAS, AN/SQR-19B ITASS, & MFTA passive sonar; AN/SQQ-28 light airborne multi-purpose system;
Armament	2 × 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems containing; 122 × mix of:; RIM-66M-5 Standard SM-2MR Block IIIB; RIM-156A SM-2ER Block IV; RIM-161 SM-3; RIM-162A ESSM; RIM-174A Standard ERAM; BGM-109 Tomahawk; RUM-139A VL-ASROC; 8 × RGM-84 Harpoon missiles; 2 × 5 in (127 mm)/62 caliber Mark 45 Mod 4 lightweight gun; 2 × Mk 38 25 mm Machine Gun Systems; 2–4 × .50 in (12.7 mm) cal. machine gun; 2 × Phalanx CIWS Block 1B; 2 × Mk 32 12.75 in (324 mm) triple torpedo tubes;
Aircraft carried	2 × MH-60R Seahawk LAMPS Mk III helicopters.

USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) is a Flight II Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser on active service in the United States Navy. She is named for the Battle of the Philippine Sea during World War II and is the second ship to bear the name. She has completed multiple deployments as part of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2001 to 2014.

Operational history

Philippine Sea was built by Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. Her keel was laid on 8 April 1986 and she was launched on 12 July 1987. Upon completion of her sea-trials after construction, Philippine Sea transferred to the Atlantic Fleet and was commissioned on 18 March 1989 in Portland, Maine. Her initial homeport was Naval Station Mayport, Florida.

In 2003, the ship was assigned to Cruiser-Destroyer Group 12.^[1]

In 2010, the ship failed her initial Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) inspection.^[2] On 7 May 2011, Philippine Sea departed Mayport for a scheduled overseas deployment to the U.S. Fifth Fleet and U.S. Sixth Fleet Area of Responsibility.^[3] On 3 June 2011, Philippine Sea paid a port visit to Kiel, Germany, prior to participating with the multi-national exercise Baltic Operations 2011 (BALTOPS-2011). This exercise included naval units from the United States, Russian, Danish, Polish and French navies, and BALTOPS-2011 ended on 21 June 2011.^[3]^[4]^[5] On 6 July 2011, Philippine Sea rescued 26 Filipino crew members from the Marshall Islands-owned, Liberian-flagged supertanker Brillante Virtuoso southwest of Aden, Yemen, after the ship's superstructure was set on fire following a reported attack by pirates using rocket-propelled grenades (RPG).^[3]^[6]^[7] Philippine Sea transited the Suez Canal on 1 July 2011.^[3]

The cremated remains of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, were buried at sea from the warship on 14 September 2012, in the Atlantic Ocean.^[8]

Starting on 23 September 2014, USS Philippine Sea fired Tomahawk missiles in the Persian Gulf at sites in Syria, targeting Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's command-and-control centers, training camps and weapons depots. The operation was expected to last several hours, with the first explosions from Tomahawk missiles heard near Raqqa in northern Syria. The USS Philippine Sea was part of the USS George H.W. Bush carrier strike group.^[9] In May 2021, the cruiser's homeport was shifted to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.^[10]

2023 Israel-Hamas war

On 14 October 2023, Lloyd Austin directed Dwight D. Eisenhower and her carrier strike group, which includes Philippine Sea, and destroyers Laboon, Mason and Gravely, to the eastern Mediterranean in response to Israel's war with Hamas.^[11] This is the second carrier strike group to be sent to the region in response to the conflict, following Gerald R. Ford and her group, which was dispatched only six days earlier.^[12]

United States–Houthi conflict (2023–present)

On 12 January 2024, Philippine Sea, Mason and Gravely fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Aircraft from Carrier Air Wing Three, embarked on the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower also participated in the strikes.^[13]

Awards

Combat Action Ribbon - (Oct 2023 - Apr 2024)
Joint Meritorious Unit Award - (Nov-Dec 1991)
Navy Unit Commendation - (Jan-Feb 1991, Sep-Oct 2001, 19 Dec 2013, Jan-Dec 2013)
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - (Jan-Jun 1994, Jan-Aug 2017)
Battle "E" - (1993, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018)
Southwest Asia Service Medal - (Aug 1990-Feb 1991)
James F. Chezek Memorial Gunnery Award - (1992)^[14]

Scheduled retirement

The Ticonderoga-class ship is expected to be decommissioned in 2025. In October 2024, the Philippines' Cagayan De Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez formally requested that the United States donate the ship to Philippines. Rodriguez says he has "written to US State Secretary Antony Blinken, US Defense Secretary Lloyd James Austin III and US Ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson about the request." The sister ship, USS Leyte Gulf, was decommissioned in September of 2024. ^[15]

References

^ Toppan, Andrew (10 March 2003). "US Navy Aircraft Carriers & Surface Combatants". World Navies Today. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
^ McMichael, William (20 December 2010). "Fla. cruiser, Va. frigate flunk INSURV". Navy Times. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) history". U.S. Carriers: United States Ships (USS) history and deployments. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
^ "Second Phase of BALTOPS 2011 Takes Place in Baltic Sea". NavyToday.com. June 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
^ "Russia: Sea Phase of BALTOPS-2011 Finishes in Baltic Sea". NavyToday.com. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
^ "USS Philippine Sea Rescues Brilliante Virtuoso Crew off Aden". Combined Maritime Forces Public Affairs. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
^ "CMF Ship USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) rescues crew from Brilliante Virtuoso". Combined Maritime Forces Public Affairs. 6 July 2011. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
^ "Neil Armstrong Laid to Rest in Atlantic". NASA. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^ "US, Arab allies launch first wave of strikes in Syria". Fox News. 23 September 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
^ "Philippine Sea, Gravely Depart Norfolk for Deployment".
^ Raddatz, Martha; Martinez, Luis (14 October 2023). "Exclusive: US to send 2nd aircraft carrier to eastern Mediterranean". ABC News. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
^ "Statement From Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on U.S. Force Posture Changes in the Middle E". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
^ Mongilio, Heather (12 January 2024). "Ike's Carrier Air Wing 3, USS Gravely, USS Philippine Sea and USS Mason Struck Houthi Targets". USNI News. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
^ "CG 58 Philippine Sea".
^ ABS-CBN News (15 October 2024). "House rep seeks US donation of ship named after Battle of the Philippine Sea". ABS CBN. Retrieved 17 October 2024.

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.